The Music of Life
by da-angel729
Summary: Remus had told her he would take care of Valentine’s Day, and she assumed he had planned a quiet dinner for two. Written before DH and canon compliant through HBP.


**Author's Notes**: The characters belong to J.K. Rowling, I'm just borrowing them. The line "laughter is the music of life" is from a quote by Sir William Osler. This idea jumped into my head as soon as I got the prompt, and then wouldn't leave. Originally written for the "Lover's Moon" Event at **metamorficmoon** on LiveJournal with a prompt of "Guess Who" As always, feeback and con con crit appreciated!

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**The Music of Life**

Remus Lupin normally didn't let himself get into silly situations, but since his daughter Abigail had been born two years ago, Tonks would come home from work and catch him playing a game with his daughter almost every night. Not just any game, either.

No, Tonks came home from work to find dinner almost ready, and her husband sitting on the floor playing "Guess Who" with Abby. This game, which was admittedly one of the weirdest games Tonks had ever seen, involved Remus covering his daughter's eyes, saying "Guess Who!" and when Abby would squeal "Daddy!" he removed them and gave her a quick kiss on her nose. Then, it would be Abigail's turn to do the same to him. It was Abby's favorite game, and Remus told Tonks they played it for hours.

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When Tonks arrived home on February 14th, she was relieved. Her job wasn't quite as stressful as it had been during the days of the war, but it was still demanding. Remus had told her he would take care of Valentine's Day, and she assumed he had planned a quiet dinner for two.

"Hello," she called as she walked toward the kitchen. It was oddly quiet, and she wondered if Abby had already been sent to bed.

"Hi, honey," Remus answered, coming out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel. "How was work?"

"It was fine. A lot of paperwork today," she said as she took off her jacket and slung it over the back of the chair. She gestured toward him. "What is that?"

"Do you like it?" Remus grinned, then looked down at the apron he was wearing. It had been a gift from Fred and George Weasley on their wedding day, but she had never seen him wearing it before. It read "Marauders Do It Better" and there was a recreation of the Marauder's Map underneath the writing. "I think it's a great piece of spell work."

"I like it, too," Tonks said, as she gave him a quick kiss. "Are you going to be proving that soon?"

"Well, in a while, anyway," Remus answered, giving her a grin and quick kiss of his own. "But now, we have dinner. It's almost ready, but give me a minute to make sure everything's going okay. I'll be right back."

Tonks sighed as she sat down on the couch. So, they weren't going anywhere. She was slightly disappointed, but she couldn't wait to see what Remus had cooked for her. Remus was an excellent cook, something Tonks appreciated since she didn't cook very well.

The door to the kitchen opened and Remus reappeared, this time without the apron.

"Dinner is served, my only love." He held out his arm and she took it. As they walked to the kitchen, Tonks caught a glimpse of red decorations in the room. They looked like…lopsided hearts? There appeared to be silver balls with five points, which Tonks realized were stars.

"Happy Vawentine, Mummy!"

Tonks stopped in her tracks, stopping Remus as well. Her daughter was standing by the kitchen table, which was decorated in a red tablecloth. Three pure white plates were set on top, though Tonks noticed immediately that Abby's was plastic. Olives were in a small silver dish, and macaroni and cheese were in a big red one. On a white platter were five hotdogs, and a plate of buns were beside it.

"You like it, Mummy?" Abby asked, smoothing down a pretty red dress with a white bow. "I choosed it!"

"It's beautiful, Abby," Tonks said, blinking back tears. Her wish for a dinner with just Remus evaporated, and her heart felt light. Her daughter looked so anxious, and so did Remus. "What a great meal!"

"See, Abby-girl," Remus said, picking her up and fixing the bow in her brown hair. "I told you Mummy would like it." He set her in her seat and held Tonks' out for her.

As they dished out food, Remus mouthed, "I have some real food if you want it later" and smiled at her.

Tonks watched Abby eat the olives off her fingers, one at a time, and smiled as she remembered her mother saying that olives were Tonks' favorite food when she was a child.

"What did you do today, Abby?"

"I made stars!" Abby squealed, pointing at the silver decorations. "And hearts!"

"They are very pretty, and I love them," Tonks told her.

Abby grinned with her mother's smile and finished eating her macaroni and cheese. She then sat, squirming, in her chair, until her mother finished eating.

"Can we play now, Mummy?"

Tonks looked to Remus to make sure he didn't need help with the dishes, but Remus shooed her out of the kitchen. She followed Abby out of the kitchen and into the living room, where Abby's toys were piled in a toy box.

"What did you want to play?"

"Guess who!" Abby shouted, and sat on the floor, cross-legged. Tonks smiled, and put her hands over Abby's eyes.

"Guess who!"

"Mummy!" Abby turned around. "My turn!"

Tonks obediently sat down, and Abby reached around her, placing her hands on Tonks' jaw.

"Guess who!" She squealed, and Tonks winced slightly. That had been really close to her ear.

"Abby-girl!" Tonks started laughing as her stress melted away, and Abby walked around in front of her. Abby started laughing, too. Their laughter mingled together and carried through the house.

--

In the kitchen, Remus Lupin smiled to himself as he heard the laughter. It had taken him a long time to realize that laughter was the music of life, and the song he heard was sweeter than most.


End file.
